Some Recent Happy Mail!

*My sweet Mandy said she saw this at a kiosk at work and had to get it for me.
I quite like the drawing - I have a thing for the bob haircut. It will ALWAYS be my favourite hair style of all time. I've always loved short hair and for the longest time wore mine short. Maybe one day I'll go back...
First infactuation began with my love for Karen Duffy. Do you guys remember her from her MTV VJ days? I always thought she was sooo beautiful. Come to think of it - she was prob my first girl crush.

*One of the first movies I got to see without my parents at the theatre circa 4th grade with my friend Veronica in Bitburg, Germany. I felt SO cool going to the movies without parental supervision. I watched this movie over and over just to see Karen Duffy - my favourite scene is when they are running through the fountains :) I'll have to find this movie on DVD. I haven't seen it in a million years!

*Micaela bought this for me. I love reading biographies of my favourite people - Duffy's story is inspirational too because she didn't let a life-threatening illness get her down. Again - an amazing woman!!

Of course I can't mention the bob without mentioning one of the most famous ones of all...

*loved her longer bob circa 1996 - I was the biggest Posh Spice wannabe! I cut my hair anytime she cut hers and I wore the big white tennis shoe platforms that Baby Spice wore. My walls were plastered with their photos - esp Victoria's :)

Thank you Mandy! As you can see this postcard brought back lots of memories for me that you didn't even know :) She also sent me this beautiful purple one:

Everytime I learn more and more about Mandy and I love it! Even little things - for instance on the back of the first postcard she wrote "Now it's 10 o'clock and I have my break drinking a Red Bull." Simple, little things like that I love to know because I can picture her in her ordinary, everyday setting :)
Here are some other beauties that made their way to my mailbox:

*Sweet surprise from the lovely Lauren. Love the vintage postage inspired card! I envy her and Shelly because the live in Florida and I love that state with ny whole heart! Some of the happiest moments I have had have been while on a beach in Florida! I have been waiting for the day a Florida locator card turns up in my mail box via postcrossing - but one sent from Florida just because is even better :) Thanks Lauren!

Some recent Postcrossings:

*from fellow Texan Will Ann - a pc she picked up while visiting Santa Fe. Thank you for sending me a part of your trip :)

*From Rachel in China who said even though she didn't have a seashore card she hoped I liked the falls and the yellow ship - I did enjoy it very much!

*From Lin Sun in Malaysia - she got this last year when she went to see the famous Hong Kong Pop Star Sammi Cheng in concert. She is also a Twilight Saga fan and is also Team Edward! :)

Many many thanks for all the lovely mail!

Should be packing...

but I missed you guys and wanted to spend some time with you instead :) Typical me - always waiting until the last minute to pack - It never fails! ha I'm SO excited about this short week for me! I just got home from a date with Philip. We went and watched "Shrek 4" and it was just simply adorable. We love all the Shrek movies and this one is def one of my favourites. It was sooo sweet it made me cry! Movies in themselves provide some of the best escapes and I escaped quite a bit this past weekend with my mom. Netflix is one of the greatest things in the world. One of my most favourite things in the world is watching a movie with her .

I've become quite obsessed with the actress Emily Mortimer. There's something about her simple beauty that makes me love her so much. She was born in London too :) I really took notice of her in "Dear Frankie" (sweet movie!) She had small parts before then (like in one of my favourites "Notting Hill"), but I really noticed her when I watched that particular movie. Naturally I wanted to see everything she's been in. So we watched "Lovely and Amazing" and "Lars and the Real Girl" over the weekend.

We also watched "Up In the Air" with George Clooney (loved it!). Last week I FINALLY watched "Dan in Real Life" (I've always wanted to see it) and loved it as well. A Netflix DVD is happy mail just like postcards and letters from you :) It's always nice when one turns up in the mail! Tomorrow when I squeeze in packing and American Idol - I'm going to squeeze in "Dear John" I absolutely can't wait to see this movie!!! I still can't believe I never made it to the theatre when it came out because I absolutely LOVE Nicholas Sparks and have read every single book he's ever writen. So tomorrow is going to be one busy day! By the way, if you have any movie suggestions to add to my que let me know :)

Speaking of movies...I'm a little sad I won't be here for the Sex and City 2 opening! When the first one came out Micaela and I and our girlfriends made a premiere of it! :) We were there at the midnight showing (even though we all had to get up early the next day for work!) and there was a ton of us (including Philip! I somehow managed to force him to accompany me! ha don't think it's going to happen this time round though!) As we all know by now - Micaela always introduces me to the greatest loves of my life - that includes Charlotte :) I just love her sooo much!

*I'm a Charlotte! Always optimistic - always glass half full kind of girl :) I believe in the best in everyone! Always a hopeless romantic!

And Aiden! I'm an Aiden gal! Micaela is too - but Big has always been her numero uno! :) So I'm excited to see what kind of suprises Aiden is going to bring to the movie. Speaking of Sex and the City...I kicked some MAJOR bum at Trivia on Friday night. One of the things Philip and I are obsessed with is Buzztime Trivia at BWW. We play all the time with our friends. It's sad, but BWW is like our second home we hang out there so much on the weekends. (Remember when I said I was drinking one too many beers? yeeeah...) Philip actually did quite well for himself too! ha made me proud :) I nearly got a perfect score - I ONLY missed ONE question and the question really didn't have to do with Sex and the City per se - it was which Desperate Houswife was considered for the part of Carrie orignally or some BS like that - yes, BS :) Because that question ruined my perfect score! Hopefully I won't read any spoilers before I have a chance to go catch the movie! I know that will be hard!

I did a bit of shopping on Sunday with Steph. We got some new things to wear this weekend :) She got a dress and some new shoes for the wedding and you'll never believe what I got....new jeans and a black top. Typical me. My uniform :) I laughed when I was checking out remember the Fill in the Blanks Friday :) All in all a wonderful weekend...but I have a sneaky feeling this weekend will be even better :) I'm already in vacation mode!

Hope

While there aren't any tunnels here at home - I do make wishes at 11:11, blowing out birthday candles and on stars. Right now I wish the weekend wasn't ending...then again I'm ready to get this week started so next weekend I'll be in Chicago :) I have had such a wonderful, relaxing weekend. But it's after midnight and I have to get up even earlier than usual so I can drop off little Logan to the puppy groomers so I best get to bed. I'll tell you more about the weekend tomorrow :) Sweet dreams xoxo

Fill in the Blanks Friday - Fashion style!

Another round of Fill in the Blanks :) I'm not going to be very good at this one - I'm just not a fashionista. I'm not a slob or anything - but I'm not especially trendy either. It use to be more important to me. It prob has something to do with my struggle with weight as well. When you don't feel good about yourself you try and hide yourself in not the most flattering of clothes and when nothing fits right you don't want to ever go shopping. I use to get so depressed going with Micaela and wanting the same dress as her and having to get two sizes bigger than my beautiful twinkie!

Luckily I'm changing that around for myself! One of these days I'll get brave like Belen and share with you my weight loss journey (girl you motivate and make me proud every time I read one of your Wed posts! Keep up the good work!). I gained quite a bit of weight during a two year span. I was so dissapointed in myself for letting myself go completely after college and after my wedding. I was also going through a bit of a difficult time as well so this Texas girl was drinking one too many Budlights on nights I would go out with my girlfriends to "escape" from everything .

I'm proud to say I have not had a beer in over TWO months! My last alcohol beverage was on St. Patrick's Day! It makes it sound like I was an alcoholic or something but I was hitting the gym pretty good and not seeing the kind of results I was wanting so I knew I had to give up Budlight completely. You don't realise how much weight you put on just from drinks alone!

Anyway, long story short - when Micaela moved away in January I had to do something to fill the empty space. After our sister Maria was here during Christmas and I hated every family picture we took I vowed to myself that I did not want to be unhappy when we take the million of family photos we will be taking this summer when we all get together. So I set a goal for myself right then and there and I'm happy to say I've been completely sticking to it! :) I've lost more than 20 pounds since February and went down 3 dress sizes!! (sometimes 4 depending on the brand! ;) When I fit into some work pants that I haven't worn in over two years I cried! :)

Although I'm not at what I want to be just yet - I am feeling SO much better about myself! :) God I didn't think I was going to divulge that much information - I just kept typing and typing! I feel so comfortable with you girls - so thank you for letting me go on and on about it. I don't have official before and after photos - but I do have a photo from last summer that I look at to keep me going. When I see the progress from that photo I know all my hard work is worth it! When I get the courage I may just post it here one of these days! Maybe when I reach my personal goal :)

Okay okay I completely got off track - so let's get to filling these blanks thanks to Lauren!


1. One fashion trend I really regret is corduroy overalls and baby tees! ha Pretty much anything I wore during the middle school years - soooo embarrassing to think about it now :)

2. The one thing that always completes any outfit is in my opinion is a pair of dressy black boots! :) Well okay I guess they can't go with every outfit so shoes is the obvious answer.

3. I would describe my personal style as casual chic. I'm a jeans and tee kind of gal. My "uniform" is jeans, black top and boots. I love black tops in any shape or form. I LOVE wearing jeans and am always in search of the perfect pair (so ladies if you have any suggestions let me know!) Jeans are such a classic look - I love that dressing up denim look as seen by:
4. My fashion muse is any of the casual chic ladies - Reese Witherspoon, Drew Barrymore, Jessica Alba to name a few.

5. If I could own one designer piece of clothing it would be a little black Gucci dress (instantly makes me think of that scene with Posh Spice in Spiceworld! haha)

6. I would love to raid the wardrobe of Reese Witherspoon. She just always looks so lovely. She even has the perfect hair!

7. Today I am wearing jeans (LOVE casual Fridays at work!) A navy blue short sleeved knit overlay top over a beige lace trimmed cami and pointy beige heels that Micaela gave me. I'm wearing my beige and white shell necklace to complete the outfit :)

ONE week until holiday!

Let the countdown begin.....
Only ONE week until I'm in Chicago with my bff Stephanie! Windy City you better watch out! :)

As I watched my Lee (looove him!) at his homecoming in Chicago on American Idol last night I got even more excited about my upcoming holiday.

I have been to Chicago once before - Micaela and I flew there to pick up our childhood best friend Michelle. She moved here for awhile to live with us and so we drove her car back. The three of us on a 15 hour road trip back to Texas was a lot of fun (aside from one creepy motel stay on the outskirts of Tulsa, OK! haha it was night and pouring down rain to the point we couldn't see a thing, so we pulled over to the first roach motel we could find - that room STILL gives me chills when I think about it haha) - there was a lot of the country I had never seen before. It was October when we were there and FREEZING cold! So going again this time will almost be like going for the first time in a way. I'm planning to meet up with Michelle and I am SUPER excited!

We will be there for a long weekend and I've been trying to decide on what all I want to see so I don't waste a minute of the trip :) We have to squeeze in the wedding celebrations with our sightseeing plans so I have to be smart about time :) I've talked to Shelly since she grew up south of the city and she recommended a couple of hot spots for me to check out including as she described cupcake heaven and the best view of the city day or night while sipping a cocktail. I have come to adore Shelly and am so glad to have this connection to her :)

If you have any recommendations on things I should absolutely try and see while I'm visiting this beautiful city please send them my way :)

So far I really want to have my picture taken outside of the Chicago Tribune, Oprah's studios and at the Navy Pier. I also really want to go to the Shedd Aquarium. I LOVE aquariums!!! It's supposed to be the largest indoor aquarium in the world!!! I just can't miss that :) I love the sea and things of the sea!

I'm SOOOO excited!!! Chicago is the light at the end of the tunnel for me haha I CAN get through this week because I'm so looking forward to escaping the daily grind for awhile.

Thank you bff for giving me this fantastic holiday!

Dear Abby...

Thought I'd share a bit of my Dear Abby addiction with you. Here is a question from today:

Dear Abby on uExpress: "DEAR ABBY: Please answer a question for me. Why do we fall in love with people who we absolutely, positively cannot have? -- HEARTBROKEN IN INDIANAPOLIS
DEAR HEARTBROKEN: You have asked a question for which there is more than one answer. Some people do it because they don't recognize the warning signs quickly enough to back off before becoming enmeshed. Others can't resist a challenge. And still others do it because -- believe it or not -- it's less threatening than falling in love with someone we absolutely, positively CAN have."

Oh Abby, I think I would just simply say Love is Blind. I think we have all been there at one point in our lives. Made me think of Kate's character Iris
Don't you just loooooove that movie? I could watch it over and over. Who hasn't felt this way:

"I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by its sheer power to alter and define our lives. It was Shakespeare who also said "love is blind." Now that is something I know to be true. For some quite inexplicably, love fades; for others love is simply lost. But then of course love can also be found, even if just for the night. And then, there's another kind of love: the cruelest kind. The one that almost kills its victims. It's called unrequited love. Of that I am an expert. Most love stories are about people who fall in love with each other. But what about the rest of us? What about our stories, those of us who fall in love alone? We are the victims of the one sided affair. We are the cursed of the loved ones. We are the unloved ones, the walking wounded.....And I have willingly loved that man for over three miserable years! The absolute worst years of my life!.....All beccause I've been cursed by being in love with a man who does not and will not love me back." - Iris

One of my besties Lauren sent that quote to Micaela and I in an email a couple of weeks ago. I love our daily exchanges Lo :)

Ink Wish

I was visiting J's blog (I loooooove this girl!! She is one of my very best friends!) and she mentioned some lyrics she would like to get tattooed on her and it made me think of what I would like to get for my third tat. I've been itching to get another one - but I wasn't sure what I would get. I played with the idea of doing an Angelina Joelie and doing the latitude and longitude of London because I really am that obsessed. It truly is my idea of heaven on earth.
I have also thought about getting a seahorse. I think they are such sweet, unique looking little creatures. I collect these little fellas :) I really love this photo and always try and incorporate him into my collages etc. But this much detail means I'd have to go a little bigger than I would like.

I came across this simple design on google - this might be easier to do

One of things I love most about seahorses is that they mate for life. Another famous tattoo that I have always loved (and not just because I've always loved her hahaha) is Victoria's

Wouldn't Song of Solomon 6:3 be perfect under the seahorse because of what they symbolize? I wouldn't get the whole verse inked like she did, just the actual Song of Solomon 6:3 and then underneath that I was thinking of getting 2.10.2007...maybe in Roman Numerals. That's my wedding date - I know, I know - this day and age that may be bad luck or a bad idea to do - kinda like getting someone's name done (unless of course it's your kiddo) but I just love the idea of this whole tattoo. I would love love love to get this done on the inside of my wrist....but I don't know if I'm that brave yet. My other tats can be easily hidden - this one can be - but it would be a little harder. And I don't want this massive thing, just something elegant and delicate. What do you think? I am such a helpless romantic - I think this tattoo would represent that completely :)

Happy 5th Birthday Youtube! :)

Youtube turned 5 today! :) I don't know how I ever lived without youtube five years ago! ha it's such a part of my daily life - I am a youtube junkie!!!! I can spend hours on there. My best friend Stephanie and I even watched an entire movie on there. We just sat in front of the computer and watched "Little Darlings" piece by piece :) We would be late meeting our friends out because we would be watching a Michael Jackson video or one of our favourite scenes from a movie on youtube haha

When your favourite band is virtually unknown in the USA, I can still keep up with Take That's latest music videos or interviews on youtube. I love it. I'd be so lost without it!!

Mel

It's a lazy Sunday and I'm flipping through the channels and am estatic that "Lethal Weapon 4" is on. I have been Mel Gibson spoiled this past week. Mel is one of the greatest loves of my life :) (Yes, I know all about his drunk rants and DUI trouble - but despite his odd behaviour at times he will always have a special place in my heart...come to think of it, another great love of my life is Britney and we all know she has had her bizarre moments...but true love loves no matter what :)


Friday night I watched "Ransom" on TNT and Monday night my mom and I rented his latest "Edge of Darkness." Intense movie!!! It's a bit too violent for me - I texted Micaela a couple of scenes into the movie to warn her that it was prob too violent for her and she prob couldn't handle it. We don't do well when it comes violent movies - in college we had to take a film class and we studied Martin Scorsese's innovative filming techniques. Micaela had a bit of a crush on our professor and so we sat in the very front row. You should have seen us when we had to watch "Goodfellas." You would have sworn we were watching a scary movie because we were covering our eyes and hiding behind sweaters during parts of it. Micaela is the worst when it comes to watching these type of movies - she just can't watch them at all. I at least give them a try :)


My all time favourite Mel movie (up until I saw Braveheart at least) is def. "Bird on a Wire." I could watch that movie over and over. Hearing Mel say my name....I'm so glad the writers decide to name Goldie's character "Marianne." :) A postcrossing that came in this week also had a Mel Gibson connection.

Isn't Avoca Beach simply gorgeous?! I imagine all of Austrailia to be this beautiful! Can you imagine Pamela lives 20 minutes from this beautiful beach? She was a lifeguard there when she was a teenager. I love when people share these little tidbits. She wrote the nicest message - including her connection to my Mel Gibson! :) She had read my blog and so she saw Mel was one of my crushes. Pamela is friends with Mel Gibson's neice! How cool is that? :)

Oh Mel - you get me EVERY time :)

This is for you...

This Sunday Secret says it all. It's for you my dear. I love you so much!

Fill in the Blank!

TGIF!!! I've never been more happy to see Friday then I am today! It has been constant POURING rain, thunder and lightening since about 2 AM yesterday morning. It was SO hard for me to get out of bed this morning because Philip has the day off and me and my boys were soooo comfortable all snuggled together sleeping good. Perfect weather to go back to bed. But alas it was 7:30 and I have to be at work at 8 AM... :(

*I took this picture one morning with my mobile - it's one of my favourite pictures ever. Logan looooves to sleep on Philip's pillow and it's so sweet! :) Sometimes he sleeps right on top of Philip's head!

Friday means another fun round of Fill in the Blank Fridays thanks to Lauren! I really love filling out questionnaires and getting-to-know-you type lists. I always have so much fun reading all of your answers :)

1. The very best thing about the summer is that laid back, easy feeling that comes with the sunshine. I always think of a Kenny Chesney song when I think of summer :)
I am particulary excited about this summer because my family is going to be here at the end of June and in July! My sister and her family from Italy, my brother and his family in Germany (my nephew is by far my most favourite person in the world! I know you're not supposed to pick favourites - but from the day I laid eyes on that baby boy I have been smitten. I love him soooo much! I have not seen him in 4 very long years and I can't' wait to hug him again!) and my twinkie will be here for almost 2 whole weeks!!! You know I'm excited to have the other half of my soul home :) Hopefully we're praying that our brother Marco will be able to take his R&R from Iraq at that same time. Since our family is so spread apart we haven't been all together at one time in YEARS! Somebody is always missing :( So summer can't get here soon enough!

2. My first crush ever was a boy named Ryan Morgan circa second grade. I loved him and his chili bowl haircut. He was the first Ryan to make me fall hard - but def. not the last.


3. This may sound really silly but I look forward to reading Dear Abby every day. I read her advice RELIGIOUSLY. I don't pay attention to my horoscope - but that Abby is a daily part of my life. Every morning I check my facebook and then I read Dear Abby online.


4. I squeeze my toothpaste from no particular part - I don't even think about it I just squeeze.


5. My absolute favorite 'comfort food' is anything that I know is bad for me - sweets or greasy fast food. Like today. Since it's raining I stayed at the office through lunch and I brought one of those 200 calorie Digiorno pizzas...but the office next door had a big meeting and my friend Lucy was on a burrito run and so I asked her to bring one back for me. One of the best places to eat in Wichita Falls is a place called Seevi's burritos. They make the best tortillas and the burritos are MASSIVE. So against my better judgement I decided to indulge in one and now my tummy is furious at me! But it's Friday and it's been a long week so that truly called for comfort food! :)


6. A random fact about me is that I was voted "Forever Friendly" in my senior high school yearbook . It's true - I never meet a stranger. I love meeting people!


7. The one piece of technology that truly makes my life better and I couldn't live without is the internet. Technology is a wonderful thing isn't it? That or a DVD player because I would be LOST without movies in my life.

Now it's your turn to answer :)

Twin Connection

Even though Micaela's been in VA since January sometimes I still get sad when lunch time rolls around. She use to work two blocks from me so I would pop round to her office to pick her up and we would lunch at our mom's casa or with friends every day. If she had to cover for a meeting or vice versa we'd switch our whole schedules around just to be able to go together. She was the best lunch date ever. We'd sing along to the radio on our way back and it was the most perfect and welcome break in every work day.

Yesterday I had the WORST case of the Mondays. From the moment it started it seemed everything that could go wrong just did. I felt overwhelmed and felt like I would burst into tears any second. It was just one of those days ALL day long. Springtime in Texas means tornado season and threats of severe weather. We've been having dark skies and gloomy weather all week and it was quite fitting for my mood. I wished more than anything that twinkie was here to make me feel better by watching one of our favourite movies together and just forget about my horrible day.

*Micaela and I hanging out at my mother-in-law's pool last summer. Like my tatoo? It's the heart on HBK's wrestling tights! :)

Luckily today has been much, much better. When I was going to lunch today a sign came in the form of a Coldplay song! Viva La Vida instantly made me happy because it made me think of Micaela. I'm sure you all know how much she LOVES her Coldplay. My husband and her share the same obsession for Coldplay and have seen them in concert 3 times together (I've been to 2 of them). So Micaela still manages to brighten up my day - even when she doesn't even know it! :)

M & M

Happy Mail came in the form of my very first letter from Mandy. A postcard just didn't give us enough room to tell each other everything we wanted to tell one another :) I was instantly thrilled when I saw my name in her pretty handwriting!

I can't wait to write my first letter to Mandy :) It's so much fun getting to know her. We've been sharing random facts about each other and it's nice to see how much we have in common. For instance, she keeps a diary and collects beautiful ads or painting to put in that diary. I do the same thing! My co-worker Laura gave me a journal and I put quotes, photos, etc. in it. It's def helped me through some tough times. It's almost like therapy really.

As if that wasn't enough, Mandy also sent me a parcel that arrived on the same day as her letter.

I was SOOOO excited to open it and find one of my most favourite things in the entire world....CHOCOLATE! Real Swiss chocolate she picked up for me while she was in Aarau. The wrappers are SO pretty...I don't even want to eat them! ha I'll save them for special occassions :)

*Sweets from my Sweet :)

One of the best things Mandy sent me were photos of herself and her beloved cat Foxy. *isn't she beautiful??? I love this photo of Mandy!

*how adorable is Foxy?!

*M&M

I was really spoiled with all the sweet mail I received :) It means so much to receive happy mail because it means you took the time to sit and write me a note and wanted to give me such sweet gifts - that kind of thoughtfullness just warms my heart! A thousand thank yous from me to you! :)

*p.s. I apolgize for my face overload that you got there in these last two posts! haha

Feels like Christmas!

My mailbox was deliriously happy yesterday :) Sweet sweet surprises greeted me when I came home from work. It felt like Christmas came in May! A big reason for that was because of beautiful Faiza of It's Going to Be a Lovely Day. I love, love reading her blog and have stayed up late reading old posts because I literally did not want to stop reading!

Imagine my smile when I saw my favourite picture of HBK smiling at me -
*btw - please don't mind the terrible photos of me! UGH!

*the entire picture was on the front and back of her envelope - like the way I managed accidently to crop it JUST right on my photo with it? :) hahaha I LOVE the way you decorated Faiza! :)

And I just couldn't resist.....

hahaha :) I loved (and am VERY thankful!) that you were brave enough to put yourself at risk of embarrassment when you went to the post office to mail this to me :) I was like a giddy school girl - I love HBK soooo much!

The darling girl sent me the nicest letter, three gorgeous postcards of my beautiful London. Don't you just looove these views:

She also sent me her favourite British thing - Hula Hoops (I almost don't want to eat these crisps just because I want to save them forever! haha), Fun Dip and some inspirational drop cards that I can't wait to share and make someone smile the way she made me smile by sharing them with me. When I opened up the package I immediately called Micaela and we gushed and gushed about how sweet Faiza is! She also sent Micaela Fun Dip so we could share them together across the miles :) How sweet is that?!


Thank you Faiza for giving this Texas girl a bit of London :) Means the world to me!